 "Arvind Kejriwal")
The AAP on Saturday dubbed the setting up of a delimitation commission for Delhi by the Union home ministry as an "eyewash" and alleged that it is yet another "tactic" of the BJP-led Centre to further delay the municipal polls in the national capital.
The party also contended that the home ministry cannot set up a delimitation commission before it determines the total number of municipal wards in accordance with the provisions of the amended Delhi Municipal Corporation Act and termed the move "illegal".
"We are happy that the Centre has constituted a committee for delimitation of MCD wards. But no order has been issued on how many wards will there be in Delhi," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
"Then how will this committee work?" he asked.
Calling the setting up of the delimitation commission an "eyewash", Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said the Centre had to first determine the total number of wards.
"Then only this order (of the home ministry) holds any water," Bhardwaj told PTI when asked to comment on the development.
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"Without deciding the total number of wards, this order is an eyewash. This delimitation exercise is also an eyewash," he added.
AAP MLA Atishi said the amended Delhi Municipal Corporation Act "clearly stipulates" that the total number of seats shall in no case be more than 250 and the number of seats in the municipal corporation shall be determined by the Centre at the time of its establishment.
"But the home ministry's order does not say in how many wards the delimitation exercise has to be carried out. This was the most important decision that the government had to take (before setting up a delimitation commission), but it did not do so," she said.
"The home ministry's order is hollow. It is yet another effort of the BJP to delay and postpone the polls because it knows that it will be decimated if the polls are held," the Kalkaji MLA charged.
The BJP-led Centre is applying "one tactic after another" to somehow postpone and delay the MCD polls so that the saffron party remains at the helm of the civic body for "as long as possible", she said.
"But I want to tell the BJP that the people of Delhi are watching. The more you delay the election, the stronger would be the support in favour of Kejriwal," Atishi said, adding, "You will be reduced to single digit in the election and Kejriwal (AAP) will come to power in the MCD as well."
Earlier in the day, the MCD said the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has set up a three-member commission for carrying out a fresh delimitation exercise of the municipal wards in Delhi.
"Taking a step forward in the direction of holding municipal elections, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, by exercising its powers under sections 3, 3A and 5 of the DMC Act, 1957, has constituted a delimitation commission to assist central government in delimitation of wards and carrying out other functions related to it," the civic body said in a statement.
It said the panel will have three members -- Vijay Dev, State Election Commissioner, Delhi, who will be its chairman, Pankaj Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Randhir Sahay, Additional Commissioner, MCD.
The commission will present its report within four months of its formation, the civic body said.
"In a matter relating to Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court had held that you cannot put off the municipal polls on the excuse of a delimitation exercise or any restructuring," Bhardwaj said.
He said the apex court had also said its judgment in the matter will be binding on every state and Union Territory.
"Hence, what the Centre is doing now is completely illegal and amounts to contempt of the Supreme Court," the AAP leader added.
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